What could be more discouraging to a productive worker who loves their work and works hard than to see all the nonworking lazy people around?
While thinking about the impact of government and unions on our future GDP growth I struggled with this issue.
A new person entering the labor market today will never have a chance to make real choices. They face a low probability of earning a lot in the world of commerce but they face a certainty of earning a fortune with gigantic benefits working for the government. Anyone choosing the private world of commerce will be facing a probable moderate income compared to a certainty of high income and astronomic benefits from working for the government doing absolutely nothing. A permanent job and early retirement with Cadillac benefits.
In the commercial world there are plenty of lazy people working alongside highly productive people, but nothing like the government.
In the commercial world there is more likely to be recognition and rewards for the hard-working people.
None of that has direct bearing on my thinking about future GDP growth. I know it is a source of distress to many to be working next to someone who is not a hard worker. Or living nextdoor to a highly paid government zombie. I sympathize. It is unjust.
What I have observed is that the injustice isn’t relevant to overall economic growth. Entrepreneurs like the freedom of the commercial market and would not consider the stifling environment of zombie working conditions in bureaucracies of any sort.
I have also observed that the highly creative people in technology will go wherever the greatest challenges are. They are not attracted to the mundane but high-paying jobs that are abundant for competent people.
Which leads to the following summary: As long as there is a significant commercial market that is fairly unrestrained and meritocratic, the horrors, the malice, the evils of government and boring work will not stifle market creativity.